96 MY SUMMER IN A GARDEN. 



else, when I went near them. Nor had they 

 any of that impetuous hurry \hat is said to 

 be the bane of our American civilization. 

 To their credit be it said that I never ob- 

 served anything of it in them. They can 

 afford to wait. Two of them will some- 

 times wait nearly half a day while a com- 

 rade goes for a tool. They are patient and 

 philosophical. It is a great pleasure to meet 

 such men. One only wishes there was some 

 work he could do for them by the hour. 

 There ought to be reciprocity. I think they 

 have very nearly solved the problem of Life : 

 it is to work for other people, never for 

 yourself, and get your pay by the hour. 

 You then have no anxiety, and little work. 

 If you do things by the job, you are perpet- 

 ually driven : the hours are scourges. If you 

 work by the hour, you gently sail on the 

 stream of Time, which is always bearing 

 you on to the haven of Pay, whether you 

 make any effort, or not. Working by the 

 hour tends to make one moral. A plumber 

 working by the job, trying to unscrew a 



